How Do You Know Which Kind Of Salt To Use When Cooking?

There are very few cooking ingredients that are so ubiquitous that they're used in every type of world cuisine, but salt is one of them. In every pantry around the world, you're going to find salt of one kind or another. 

These days there seems to be a glut of salt types at the grocery store, especially at fancy stores such as Whole Foods. There's even a salt of the month club if you're looking to add to your collection (via Salt Cellar). With all of the options out there, it's slightly overwhelming to figure out which salt to use in your cooking. 

The simplest options are kosher salt and table salt. These are basic salts that won't impart any sort of flavor to your dish rather than, well, saltiness. Because table salt is finer than kosher salt, which tends to be flaky, be careful when swapping them out in recipes as a tablespoon of table salt weighs significantly more than a tablespoon of kosher salt (via Healthline).

If you are looking to add a flavored salt to your dish, consider using grey salt. Grey salt comes from the French Atlantic coast and is colored by the minerals that it absorbs (via The Chopping Block). Because of the absorbed minerals, it has a slight metallic taste, which can help to add another layer of flavor to your cooking (via Men's Health). And while "metallic" doesn't seem like the most appetizing word, think of the metallic, iron-like taste of a rare steak or raw bluefin tuna. That's the type of taste that this salt imparts. 

Truffle salt is a newcomer on the scene (via Spiceography). Most truffle salts consist of tiny pieces of flavorful black truffles mixed in with sea salt. If you're not only trying to make your food saltier, but also trying to add the pungent, earthy, mushroomy flavor that is associated with truffles, try using a pinch of truffle salt on top of your dish. Note that this type of salt should be used for finishing a dish, rather than cooking with it, so keep it on your table to sprinkle on top of dishes just before serving.